An on-duty Mullica police officer struck and killed a man with his patrol car Friday. The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office is investigating the crash.Mullica police

MULLICA — Prosecutors are investigating a crash in which a 44-year-old Hammonton man was fatally struck Friday morning by a patrol vehicle driven by a Mullica Township officer.

Frank Perri Jr. of Hammonton died minutes after being hit at 5 a.m. Friday on the northbound side of Weymouth Road by a vehicle driven by Officer Ryan Hutton, authorities said.

The officer was patrolling the area looking for the driver of car that had struck a pole, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said in a release. Police have said that Perri walked in front of the officer's car.

Perri, who was pronounced dead at the scene, is believed to have driven into the pole and left the car, authorities said.

Hutton was treated for non-life threatening injuries.

The abandoned car was first found by Hamilton Township police, who couldn't find the driver, the prosecutor's office said.